Berkeley Reconsiders Plan To License, Tax Marijuana Farms

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BERKELEY (AP) — Berkeley city officials are rethinking a voter-approved plan to license and tax six urban medical marijuana farms.

Mayor Tom Bates says that Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s recent warning to Oakland officials that similar cultivation sites might invite legal action from her office has had a chilling effect on his neighboring city as well.

But Bates says he still is hopeful that the Berkeley City Council will be able to develop operating rules that would allow the proposed marijuana farms to pass muster with O’Malley, as well as with California’s new attorney general.

The Oakland City Council last month suspended its plan to license four wholesale medical marijuana factories. The move came after O’Malley sent a letter warning the sites were illegal under state law.